novicio

Forms

novicio m (plural novicios, feminine novicia, feminine plural novicias)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin novīcius (“new, recent; a newly bought slave”), a learned word that Corominas lists among the learned derivatives of the family of nuevo.^[2][3][1] Gómez de Silva takes it through Medieval Latin, where the word already meant “monastic novice”.^[4][5]

The Latin adjective was formed from novus (“new”) with the suffix -īcius, and in Plautus and Terence it was used above all of newly imported or newly bought slaves.^[6][1] The base goes back to *nowos and *néwos (“new”), the source of νέος (néos) and new.^[7][1]

The same Latin word is Portuguese noviço, Galician novizo, Italian novizio and French novice.^[8][9] Houaiss dates the Portuguese word to the 13th century.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The DEMel gives the first records in Berceo's Vida de Santo Domingo de Silos (about 1230) and the Libro de Alexandre, both from concordances, and a primary record in a 13th-century copy of the rules of the Order of Santiago, spelt nouicio.^[11] The BDELC dates it to 1220–1250.^[2] The Siete Partidas define the word: nouicios llaman a los que nueuamientre entran en alguna orden “they call novices those who newly enter a religious order”, and require a man of fourteen and a woman of twelve before they can take the habit.^[12]

Semantic evolution

In 1611 Covarrubias still gave the general sense “new to something” first, and then the usual one, a religious who has taken the habit but not made profession; he also recorded noviciado for the time a novice spends in the order and for the part of the monastery where novices live.^[13] As early as 1538 a chronicle of Nueva Granada used the word for newcomers to a land: the Christians were still novicios en la tierra and did not know its ways.^[14]

The Diccionario de Autoridades added the sense “beginner in any art or skill”, quoting Jacinto Polo's joke about a novice doctor, and a third sense taken from the bearing of novices: a person very composed and modest, especially in the eyes.^[15] Salvá recorded the augmentative noviciote, a novice of mature age or great height.^[16] The Academy first gave the etymology in 1884, from the Latin novitius.^[17] Today the third sense is marked as rare, while “beginner” is used both as a noun and as an adjective.^[3][18]

Timeline

• c. 1230 – Berceo's Vida de Santo Domingo de Silos has the word, according to the DEMel.^[11]
• 1256–1300 – the Siete Partidas define nouicios as those who newly enter a religious order.^[12]
• 1538 – first record from the Americas, in Nueva Granada, in the sense “newcomer”.^[14]
• 1591 – Percyvall glosses it “nouice” and Latin tyro.^[19]
• 1611 – Covarrubias defines it and the derivative noviciado.^[13]
• 1726–1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades adds the senses “beginner” and “very modest person”.^[15]
• 1846 – Salvá records the augmentative noviciote.^[16]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary gives the Latin etymology.^[17]

Meanings

Noun

1. A novice: a person who has taken the habit in a religious order but has not yet made profession: Entró de novicia en un convento de clarisas.^[3][18][1]
2. A beginner in any activity or skill; also used as an adjective, “inexperienced”: un conductor novicio.^[3][18][20]
3. (rare) A very composed, modest and demure person, like a novice in a religious house.^[3][18]

Word family

• noviciado

Related words

• nuevo
• novato
• novel
• Latin novus
• Portuguese noviço

Usage notes

The feminine is novicia.^[1] The maestro de novicios is the religious in charge of training the novices of a house; a chronicle of Tucumán already mentions a rector y maestre de novicios in 1609.^[3][14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. nuevo
3. ^ a b c d e f Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. novicio
4. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. 492
5. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. novicius
9. ^ Segura Munguía, Santiago (2014), Lexicón etimológico y semántico del latín y de las voces actuales que proceden de raíces latinas o griegas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 492
10. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. noviço
11. ^ a b Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. novicio
12. ^ a b Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. novicio
13. ^ a b Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 1167
14. ^ a b c Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. novicio
15. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 4, 685
16. ^ a b Salvá, Vicente (1846), Nuevo diccionario de la lengua castellana, París: Librería de Don Vicente Salvá, p. 755
17. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 744
18. ^ a b c d Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. novicio
19. ^ Percyvall, Richard (1591), Bibliothecae Hispanicae pars altera: containing a dictionarie in Spanish, English and Latine, London: John Jackson for Richard Watkins, p. 179
20. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. novicio